The Fixer: A Novel. Joseph Finder. Penguin Group (USA). June 2015.
384 pp. ISBN#: 9780525954613.
Rick
Hoffman started out as a sharp guy with a great investigative reporter job, a
great fiance and plenty of money linked to his job. It bought him access to search out crime and
scandal wherever it existed. But now his
fortune is in reverse mode with no job, no fiance and no money, just a
dilapidated home sorely in need of a makeover in order to be sold. His Dad was a lawyer who is now a resident in
a nursing home as a result of a massive stroke that pretty much ended not only
his job but any way to communicate with Rick, or anyone else for that matter.
So
Rick is out of money and the owner of several maxed out credit cards. Hardly a
paragon of success! However, while
talking about renovations with his neighbor, they are wrecking an upstairs wall
and come upon a stack of packages. Rick
has discovered way over a million dollars of cash. He thinks his neighbor has seen him trying to
hide it but isn’t sure. So the story
really begins with several problems.
Where is he to hide all this money?
Where did all this money come from?
All
of Rick’s sleuth skills are now in play.
Talking to people who knew his father’s work life and connections, he
quickly discovers his Dad was what is known as a “bag man.” For those not into
the criminal world, that’s a person who pays off certain public and privately
important people to get “the job” done, usually an illegal or secret job that
must never be exposed to public scrutiny.
The
tension mounts as it’s clear the owner or owners of that money know Rick’s got
the money and are going to do anything to get it back. That includes some very
violent scenes that up the tension-riddled moments and Rick barely escapes up
to a point.
The Fixer is connected to a scandal once known as
Boston’s “Big Dig” project. Payoffs aren’t
news to most alert consumers and citizens in contemporary times. What is never business as usual concerns the
extent to which some important or powerful people will go to make sure that
payoff plans become finished business.
It’s up to Rick to finish the job!
Fairly simple plot but plenty of action
plus a little bit of sexy romance for those that love criminal fiction!
No comments:
Post a Comment